Going On Holiday When Signed Off Sick

I think it depends on the circumstances and the employer. A relative was being treated for a serious illness over several months and wanted to go on holiday at the end of the treatment - they were upfront and asked the employer if they could take the time off as unpaid leave. The employers response was don't be stupid you need to take this as part of your sick leave and insisted that it was paid sick leave (it was a holiday abroad.) I am not sure every employer would have acted in that way.

Same here. I was going to say this.. if you're off sick, your employer can call you in for a wellness check at any time. It'll be a bit hard to attend if you're out of the country.

I think you may need to check the company policy.

Going on holiday will absolutely improve your mental health and if it was me I’d be going.

But just double check how the land lies first so you’ve got a job to go back to

Not HR, however because of my profession I work closely with HR (Well SLT) and this would apply in our large organisation also.

I'd seriously question the legality of a clause like that.

I wish I had done this when I had burnout. I would have recovered better and faster than mooching around at home feeling stressed and sorry for myself. I wanted to, but the whole thing about booking it and spending money was too overwhelming at the time and I wasn't functioning well enough to go through with it. I would have been far better off lying on a beach in Spain. I would just keep it on the down low - no photos online, don't tell anyone at work, try not to end up with tan levels that could not have been achieved in your back garden.

Let HR know, and take the holiday. It will definitely help your recovery and you should be doing everything you can to get better - a holiday is a good step towards being back in “normal life” . Do not overthink it or worry about it. And don’t flaunt it!

Being on vacation during MH leave is actually a LOT better than taking it when you return to work. You can then use your annual leave to take say two afternoons a week off, so there’s less impact on your team and you can ease yourself back into work.

I had a colleague off work for 7 months, she was managing the team parallel to mine - so I was dumped with covering her work (not really my employer’s fault at first as HR had no idea she would just keep extending the GP sick note so they didn’t plan cover for months). She left me with a right mess because she hadnt been doing her job properly so that caused stress as she was trying to cover up.

I inherited her big mess, a team in crisis and was still doing my own job so I was knocking out 70 hours a week to fix what she had wrecked.

I did agree to it because I liked her, felt sorry for her MH, wanted her to recover and come back and see it would all be okay. As the months wore on she started posting SM about her “battle” with work related stress (aka being really a bit shit at her job and not telling our manager because she was too scared of being told off).

And then she comes back to work on full pay but only works four hours a day to help her readjust, does nothing much differently to show that she will manage things better and doesn’t even call and say “thanks for your help covering” and THEN demands to take two weeks holiday at our busiest time of year from her annual leave so she doesn’t get stressed again (blackmail).

I promptly quit without a job to go to and got a better job. I was wild with annoyance at her, she was utterly selfish and it didn’t occur to her what I must have gone through, sorting out her shit.

I really do have sympathy for MH - I’ve had plenty of my own struggles and I’m menopausal - but because now people use it as an excuse for being ineffective at work, and then flaunt their “struggles” like a bad of pride it makes it harder for people like you and me - good people, who want to do the right thing.

Take the holiday now, get better, return to work and look for another job which you can handle without getting stressed. That’s my advice.

Why wouldn't you just take your holiday for once instead of dicking around with sick leave? :-S

I wouldn't be posting it all over social media for your own sake when you do return to work, but if see no issue with this- it is guaranteed some of your colleagues would disagree, so if you are planning to go back probably wouldn't Facebook it to keep the future concern for stress down.

People will talk but that's because they want to think you are sitting around being sad.
Go on holiday. Live your life, you only have one.

Do it! Look at it as helping your healing journey

Is it permissable to go on holiday if you are signed off from work if you are physically unwell? My husband, for example, has a condition that causes him significant back pain and I always assumed if he's signed off with it he wouldn't be permitted to to on a holiday?

I went on holiday whilst recuperating from an accident a few years ago. I couldn't have gone to work - I was still on crutches - but that didn't stop me being able to go on holiday. I couldn't actually do much but it was good to get some sunshine and warmer weather and be able to use the pool for exercise. My physio and surgeon both said they thought it would be good for me. I did let my employer know and they were fine with it. Obviously if I'd plastered pictures all over social media of me water skiing or paragliding they'd have had something to say about but I wasn't doing anything like that! Being unfit for work doesn't mean you have to be housebound and it's almost always beneficial to be as active as you can. I can't honestly remember if my employer's policy was that I had to tell them, but even if it wasn't required I felt more comfortable knowing it was all above board. It meant that if anyone thought I was up to no good and decided to report me nothing would come of it as it had already been agreed.

HR person here.

I went on holiday (happened to be booked prior to sick leave) whilst off long -term with work-related stress. In my case, it did me a power of good - it gave me time to think about what mattered to me in life and whether my job aligned with it.

I was open with work about what I was doing. I did post on social media. Colleagues who saw it were universally supportive and relieved I was managing to leave the house.

Provided you're still unfit for work with a valid fit note and meet the eligibility criteria, you are still entitled to SSP whilst on holiday. Occupational sick pay rules may differ (and could potentially be challenged at a tribunal as to whether they are unlawfully discriminatory), but even if your employer withheld occupational sick pay, they would still have to pay SSP if you were eligible.

Obviously if you were doing something fundamentally incompatible with the issue you were off with - e.g. you were signed off with a broken leg and off climbing Everest) your employer would have reason to question the authenticity of your absence, potentially via a disciplinary route. But your case doesn't sound like that, and a holiday will probably be therapeutic for you.

I did. I was off work with low mood and anxiety (certificated) and felt so shit I booked a holiday to the Algarve for a week. It was the October half term so my now ex and DD came too.

Go on holiday. It might help.

I wouldn't go on holiday if I was too sick to go to work. If your job makes you so sick spend the sickness leave looking for another job. Very unfair for colleagues having to cover for you while you're getting paid to go on holiday.

Wowsers there are some really dark ages views about mental health in this thread.

😳

Totally reasonable. I hope you have a great time.

@mrsdineen2 Ok, maybe unethical too strong a word.
Nevertheless, not something i would do, nor anyone i know

That's a strong statement. What's unethical about taking active steps to improve mental health and reduce stress while on a mental health and stress related absence?

Still unethical

Colleagues should be taking it up with the management who are not ensuring adequate staffing levels

AIBU is not the place for accurate employment advice, as this thread shows.

OP, your company’s sickness policy will tell you what your employer expects of you.

I was a manager handling sickness absences and we had a number of people off with stress or depression over the years. My view - and this is what I told them - was you are signed off work not signed off life. I always felt getting out and about or even on holiday was better than sitting at home stewing or staring at the same four walls. I hope you feel better very soon x

I’m in HR too and one of the biggest employers in the UK has exactly that policy.

The OP doesn’t have annual leave booked and they aren’t cancelling a holiday due to sickness.

Sickness policies can require employees to be available for meetings. If they go away and aren’t available the employer can consider that not to meet the terms of occupational sick leave.

ETA - see the ACAS link someone has posted.